Announcing the 4th Annual Cedars Juried Show

Presented by Fondren Renaissance and sponsored by Jan and Lawrence Farrington and Butler Snow.

We are pleased today to announce the 2015 Cedars Juried Art Show. The 4th annual installment will feature esteemed artist and designer, Myrna Colley-Lee, from Charleston, Miss., serving as juror, and is sponsored by art enthusiasts, Jan and Lawrence Farrington and the law firm of Butler Snow.

An opening reception will be held September 3 from 5pm to 8pm at The Cedars and coincides with the monthly Fondren’s First Thursday.

Entries are open to all Mississippi artists, who may submit up to three works for consideration. Selection of accepted entries will be made by the art committee of Butler Snow LLP who maintains one of the finest art collections in the Southeast. The selection for top cash prizes and honorable mentions will be made by Colley-Lee, known for her interior and theatrical design and her advocacy and revitalization efforts.

The Cedars Juried Show is part of the Four Seasons of The Cedars Visual and Performing Arts Series and is free and open to the public. The exhibit hangs through September 30.

Myrna Colley-Lee received her M.F.A. in Scenic and Costume Design from Temple University, studied scene painting and properties at Brooklyn College and completed the B.F.A. at the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Colley-Lee’s most recent work includes Radio Golf at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, the world premiere of The Ballad of Emmett Till at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Gee’s Bend for The Cleveland Playhouse, Becoming Adele for Gotham Stage Company, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Relativity at The St. Louis Black Rep. In addition to stage design, Myrna has designed interiors for several homes, a yacht, and a commercial interior in Santa Monica, CA.

Outside of design work, Colley-Lee recently completed service on the Governor’s Commission to Establish a National Civil Rights Museum in Mississippi, and is currently a Commissioner for the Mississippi Arts Commission. Myrna serves on the boards of The Charleston Arts Revitalization Effort, The Mississippi State University Department of Art, and The Mississippi Festival Foundation. She is also on the Acquisitions Committee of The Mississippi Museum of Art, and the Advisory Board of the Ogden Museum of Art. In 2006, Myrna founded the SonEdna Foundation, Inc., an organization that supports and promotes the literary arts in the Mississippi Delta region.

Colley-Lee is the recipient of numerous awards, including Doctor of Creative Arts, honoris causa, from Mississippi State University; Honored Artist from the National Museum of Women in the Arts; The Agatha Award from the Rowell Foster Children’s Positive Plan; Outstanding Costume Design from the National Black Theatre Festival; the Exemplary Arts Service Award from the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education; the Wynona Lee Fletcher Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Designer from the Black Theatre Network; and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Lifetime Achievement Award.